OJAI : Work Starts Today on Highway Projects

Several highway improvement projects in the Ojai Valley, delayed because of the Southern Pacific train wreck that routed Ventura Freeway traffic onto Ojai roads last week, are scheduled to begin today.

Roadwork on California 33 while the projects are being completed could create traffic delays of up to 15 minutes for several months, said Russ Snyder of the California Department of Transportation.

The California 33 connector to the northbound Ventura Freeway will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today for routine bridge repairs, Synder said. On Thursday, the California 33 junction to Ventura Avenue will also be closed for bridge repairs from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Beginning next Monday, traffic will be reduced to one lane on California 33 in Mira Monte for work that is expected to be completed in late September, Snyder said. Workers will widen the highway and install a left-turn lane at Valley Meadow Drive. Motorists will be stopped with flags and assisted around the construction site, Snyder said.

Also next Monday, a repaving project is scheduled to begin through Oak View, and it may not be finished until late September. Various lanes of California 33 will be subject to closure from Creek Road to La Cross Street, Caltrans engineer Jay Steele said.

“We’ll be trying to do most of our work at night,” Steele said.

A project to resurface a one-mile stretch of the Ojai Freeway between Canada Larga Road and Casitas Vista Road is expected to start in early September and to be completed in December. Freeway lanes and ramps will be subject to closure between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Monday through Friday.